NEWSLETTER Fall 2006

Message from the Library DIrector

In addition to being a faculty member, I am also an alumna of Stetson University, and recently I was asked to join the Alumni Board of Advisors. These enthusiastic alumni met this fall, and as I learned of how much they do for Stetson, I was very impressed. In addition to the expected financial support, these alumni are the university’s eyes, ears, and voice throughout the country. They spread the word of Stetson’s fine qualities, help recruit good students, assist our graduates with their careers, and maintain a network which always connects to DeLand. Members attending ranged from Peter Urscheler (’06), now working near Philadelphia, to Cortez “Corky” Dannals (’46) of DeLand. Peter told me of how pleased he is with the library’s web pages for alumni, including access to the Proquest databases he had used so much as a student. Associate Library Director Sue Ryan has developed a number of pages of special interest to our alumni. If you haven’t already bookmarked it in your web browser, take a look at http://stetson.edu/library/alumni.php. In the four brief years since I became Director and asked Sue to supervise the Archives, she and part-time Archives Specialist Gail Cohrs Grieb (’67) have changed it from little more than a poorly organized repository for university papers to a treasure-trove of information on the history of the university and those individuals important in our history. Through proactive collecting, organizing, indexing, and interpreting of both documents and memorabilia, we are now able to provide assistance to many from both on and off campus (see Sue’s story on the Stetson mansion on page 4). In the process, we have added many items and photos to our web site. Marcia Baldwin Paulson (’60) and her husband Roy (’59) visited campus recently and brought some fascinating items for Archives, including an Alpha Xi calendar from 1960 with photos of

twelve coeds in assorted poses (all circumspect by today’s standards) and now on our web site http://stetson.edu/library/alumni_alphaxicalendar.php. Marcia also brought scrapbooks and even one of her Chaudoin Hall “signout sheets” on which girls needed to note where they were going and with whom when leaving the dorm after 8 pm. There would be a lot of memories in those signout sheets if more could be found – including mine. A major addition to the Archives is now displayed on the main floor of the library – one of the Hulley Tower bells. In 1915, eleven solid bronze bells, ranging in size from 575 to 3,000 pounds, were brought to Stetson and installed in the Elizabeth Hall cupola as the Eloise Chimes, honoring President Lincoln Hulley’s wife. After

twenty years, it was determined that they caused too much vibration to remain in the cupola. In 1934, they were moved to the newly constructed 116-foot Hulley Tower, the base of

which is the burial place of President and Mrs. Hulley. For years, students in the School of Music played the chimes every morning and evening. In 2005, age and water damage made the tower unsafe, and the bells were removed. The tall tower was reduced to the 22-foot mausoleum you now see. The bells were distributed to different venues for preservation. This bell, the smallest of the eleven, is engraved “11.” The cast bell also is engraved with the factory name, McShane Bell Foundry, and several quotations. The phrase facing west is from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “In Memoriam”:

Ring out the thousand wars of old: Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Betty Drees Johnson (’59, ’62), Library Director

Get to Know Some Special Faculty Members

In August our Library Associates joined us in honoring at a reception the university faculty who were promoted and/or granted tenure. We asked the honorees to select an author who had been most influential in their lives and to provide a statement on that selection. The selections give an interesting insight into our scholars and the importance of books in their lives. Below are the statements of those who participated.

Jane Bradford – Library – Promoted to Professor

“Because different books and authors have influenced my life in different ways at different

times, it’s hard to choose a single book or even a single author. However, I submit two that, when read in high school, opened my eyes and my mind to looking at the world from a larger perspective, although were I to read either of them

now for the first time, I don’t think either would have the same impact. First, I would have to choose the works of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, the author I was assigned for our high school senior English research project. It was not only his poetry that influenced me but also his biography, for his life and works were the first time I’d read about anyone who had what were considered radical ideas and began to understand what those ideas really meant. Second is Markings by Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary General of the United Nations, 1953-1961. Even as a young high school student then, I admired Hammarskjöld for his diplomatic victories and his love of the arts and remember vividly the news when he died in a plane crash in 1961. A family friend gave me his journal, Markings, published posthumously in 1963. There were many statements in Markings that resonated with me at the time, but one I have always remembered is ‘… it [bitterness] is still an expression of the real bitterness of death – the fact that others are allowed to go on living.’ Here’s someone, I thought, who’s really honest.”

Mike Bitter – Accounting – Promoted to

Professor “The History of Accounting Thought by Michael Chatfield was required reading in one of my doctoral seminars. It opened my eyes to the evolution of accounting and helped me to consider, in a broader context, the purpose of

accounting and the role accounting plays in business and society. This book piqued my interest in accounting theory, the role of accounting in the United States, and the evolution of accounting standard-setting in the United States.”

Melissa Gibbs – Biology – Promoted to Associate Professor

“Nobel Prize Women in Science by Sharon Bertsch McGrayne is a fascinating book that describes the lives of the nine women who were awarded Nobel Prizes before 1993. Their struggles for an education and recognition for their work are mind-boggling. Can you imagine having to crawl into the back of a lecture hall and listen to the lecture from underneath the

desks in the back of the room so that the professor wouldn’t see you and throw you out (Lise Meitner)? Can you imagine being an Italian Jew (Rita Levi-Montalcini) and conducting research on chick embryology in

your kitchen during World War II? And scrambling the eggs for dinner after removing the embryos for study? These women suffered incredible indignities and hardships simply because they were women, but all of them managed to reach the pinnacle of scientific success. During the past 13 years, more women have been awarded a Nobel Prize in science, but these early stories will always be an inspiration to today’s scientists (especially the women).”

Randall Hansen – Marketing – Promoted to

Professor “I have to go with a book that I wish were required reading for all top executives. It is a favorite among my students taking my marketing

seminar class. The book fits my philosophical view of what marketing should be. It is Creating Customer Evangelists by

Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell. The book is all about building and maintaining satisfied customers – and the more we do so, the more the very satisfied consumers will become

marketers for our brand (thus, become evangelists for the brand), reducing our need to rely on traditional (and some say broken) marketing and advertising venues… and, of course, in the end, increase the organization’s profitability – but profitability is an outcome of marketing success, not the goal.“ Anthony Hose – Music – Awarded tenure and

promoted to Associate Professor

“Dickens’ writing, as ever, is timeless and embraces and examines so many predicaments with a rare insight. The characteristics of the dark side are drawn with a

powerful involvement and the surmounting of those characteristics by the finer human qualities is inspiring in a manner quite special to an extraordinary writer.”

Debra Touchton – Teacher Education – Awarded tenure and promoted to Associate

Professor “I chose Peter Senge as the author who made a difference in my work. His book The Fifth Discipline was recommended to me by a HR director at an organization I was studying. In this book, Senge outlined his concept of systems thinking and how it related to developing learning organizations. That day, 15 years ago, changed how I looked at organizational development. I became a systems thinker not just in my professional work, but in my personal interactions as well.”

Kirsten Work – Biology – Awarded tenure and

promoted to Associate Professor “Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is now more than 40 years old; however, its message is still just as

relevant today as when it was published in 1962. Her specific concern of bioaccumulation of DDT in birds has been alleviated in this country, but the argument for DDT use is still alive today, particularly in malaria-prone

parts of the world. In the U.S., new issues arise repeatedly, such as the accumulation of potential endocrine disrupters in wildlife. I remember vividly reading the book in college and I still refer to it and its message today.”

The Myth of Libraries without Books

Three different Associates sent us copies of the Wall Street Journal October 21, 2006, article on Valparaiso University’s new $33 million library, headlined: “Libraries Beckon, But Stacks of Books Aren't Part of Pitch: Valparaiso's New Building Has PCs, a Café, a Steinway; 'Quiet's Not the Thing'.” Reading the article one would think that books are no longer used and that the library is as noisy as a gym. However, this award-winning facility did not discard all books or put them all into remote or compact storage. According to the university’s description, “Books and other traditional information resources are mixed with computers and access to the Internet on every floor…” Although we do not have a new $33 million library, we have been successfully combining books and electronic services, both of which are widely used. Furthermore, our students also study in groups, but they manage to speak quietly so others can concentrate. In the next newsletter we will report on our latest plan to further modify current space for a 21st century library.

Library Endowment Update

Donations to the library help meet the research needs of every student on campus, regardless of major, and these gifts are increasingly vital. Toward that end, we started the Library Associates Program several years ago. Last spring we announced our new general Library Endowment. Designed to let donors of varying means ensure the future of the library’s mission through gifts in any amount, this endowment will provide perpetual income to meet changing needs. Since the original endowment donations, we have received gifts ranging from $10 to $2,500. We now have more than $41,000. The endowment is a choice on our Library Associates membership form, and it is possible to give to the endowment through the Associates Program or to split your gift between designations. We hope you will continue to help this endowment grow in addition to your annual support of the library.

The Stetson Mansion Revived A little more than a year ago, J.T. Thompson and Michael Solari wandered into the Stetson library looking for information. They had recently purchased the “Stetson Mansion” and wondered what we might know about the house. Although much of the house’s history has been lost over time, quite a bit of information on the mansion can be found in the files of the university’s archives, including a wonderful old scrapbook of turn-of-the-century photos. John B. Stetson, the Philadelphia hat manufacturer for whom the University is named, built his mansion as a winter residence in

DeLand in the late 1880s. The 8,500 square foot home is reportedly half the size Mr. Stetson wanted to build on his 300 acre orange grove on

the southwest side of town; legend has it that his wife Elizabeth did not care for Florida and thus the original plans were scaled down. Designed by the noted architect George T. Pearson, the Stetson Mansion was built in the frame vernacular style and presents an excellent example of high Victorian architecture. The architect also designed the university’s Elizabeth and Chaudoin Halls. With the property now reduced to two acres, the house is listed in the national historic register. Six fireplaces, carved woodwork, and original Tiffany-style leaded and stained and rare roundel glass windows adorn the home. Exquisite inlaid parquet floors have a different pattern in each grand room on the first two levels. The front staircase is a central feature. Still standing behind the mansion is the 800 square-foot schoolhouse built for John B. Stetson’s two sons (original chalkboards still intact). Originally there were a number of out-buildings for staff, gardens, ponds, groves, and a “pinery” – an area planted with pineapples and

covered with a shed which was heated in the

winter to keep the pineapples from freezing. One well-known resident, Beauregard the 10-foot alligator, lived in a fenced-in pond on the property and was

quite the local attraction. Mr. Stetson kept other exotic animals such as monkeys and parrots. John B. Stetson was instrumental in bringing electricity and street lights to DeLand, building both the first electric plant and the town’s ice factory. The mansion’s original electrical panel, looking like a piece of art, sits in a hallway of the home in a glass-front wood cabinet. John B. Stetson often stayed in his winter home until his death in 1906 and had an important influence on the University. Mr. Stetson was in his DeLand home when he suffered a heart attack and died in his bathtub, which is still on the second floor of the house. Because of the original bathtub and other artifacts in the home, the new owners have been talking to HGTV about possibly filming an episode of the series “If These Walls Could Talk” at the mansion. A number of people have owned the house throughout the years, but none have taken on a complete restoration of the property. J.T. and Michael have great plans to create a showcase home, and they have invited designers, contractors, suppliers, and other sponsors to join them in the renovation. Much work has already been accomplished: more than 100 rolls of wallpaper have been removed from the walls, the porch has been rebuilt, and the exterior has been painted. As you drive by, it is clear that the Stetson Mansion is slowly coming back to life. You can learn more about the designer showcase and builders’ exhibition or take a virtual tour of the mansion at http://www.stetsonmansion.com.

Susan M. Ryan, Associate Library Director